Niobium telluride (NbTe₂), a kind of few-layer two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) material, has been theoretically predicted with nonlinear absorption properties and excellent optical response. Herein, we experimentally demonstrated an Er-doped fiber (EDF) laser based NbTe₂ as saturable absorber (SA). Few-layer NbTe₂ nanosheets were successfully prepared by adopting the commonly used liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) method. The nonlinear optical response of highly stable few-layer NbTe₂ was investigated through an open-aperture Z-scan laser measurement, the nonlinear absorption coefficient was 2.45 × 10⁻¹¹ m/W. Both Q-switched and mode-locked operation centered at 1 559 nm were recorded based on NbTe₂ SA. The pulse duration was varied from 4.88 μs to 1.75 μs, and the adjustable range of repetition frequency is changed from 44.01 kHz to 64.12 kHz in passively Q-switched operation. Furthermore, a constant repetition rate of 5.33 MHz and pulse width of 2.67 ps were observed in mode-locked operation. Our experimental results fully reveal the nonlinear optical properties of NbTe₂ used in pulsed fiber lasers and broaden its ultrafast applications in the optics field.